Barnabas Dowdell was born with Down syndrome, and moving his lower body is a challenge. So his mom was astonished when the 13-month-old drove his new retrofitted motorized toy racecar zooming past a ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ building.
βThis by far exceeded all my expectations,β said his mother Shannon Dowdell of Merritt Island. βI came here hoping heβd enjoy himself, and inside of 30 seconds of being in the little car he was doing things heβs never done before. He pushed up, heβs never done that before. His mobility has already improved and Iβm just so grateful.β
Barnabas and 10 other toddlers with special needs watched as their physical therapists worked alongside ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ faculty to retrofit motorized toy cars as part of an official GoBabyGo event May 29.
βI want parents to know that if they missed today, itβs not a missed opportunity,β said Jennifer Tucker, the faculty member in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program who is leading the effort for ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½. βWeβll be doing more of these workshops and we hope this is just the beginning. β
The hope is to establish an innovative center for mobility at ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ in partnership with GoBabyGo founder, Cole Galloway. The center would focus on researching and developing new and inexpensive mobility options for children and adults with motor impairments; teaching the next generation of physical therapists best practices; and offering the community a clinic where children and adults could gain access to mobility devices tailored toward their unique needs.
To see video from Fridayβs event .
GoBabyGo is a national movement led by Galloway, a professor, physical therapist and associate chair at the University of Delaware. Heβs been helping groups across the country learn how to retrofit toy vehicles since 2012. Gallowayβs expertise focuses on motor behaviors of infants, especially in the area of neural, biomechanical, behavioral and environmental influences as they learn to coordinate their early head, arm and leg behaviors for later skills, such as reaching, sitting and walking. The National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation fund much of his work.
Galloway spent two days at ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ teaching faculty and parents about why movement is so important in the social and physical development of children and some of the latest research and physical therapy techniques that can make a difference. He demonstrated innovative techniques to help give children independent movement. As part of the workshop the families received the retrofitted vehicles at no cost to them. It costs less than $300 to adapt the vehicles for the children.
βIβm just so thrilled,β Dowdell said as she watched her son start and stop his vehicle in front of the College of Health and Public Affairs I building Friday. βAnd his future is so bright with ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ starting a program for adults like my son who want to get a college degree. Thereβs so much potential here. It is amazing.β
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ is launching an innovative post-secondary educational experience in the fall by offering individuals with intellectual disabilities immersive campus and vocational opportunities to achieve excellence in college and beyond.